Carson City, NV – Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford recently announced that Nevada has reached a settlement with Walgreen’s regarding the company’s role in the opioid epidemic. The settlement, announced at a press conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday, will bring in a total of $285 million to Nevada. By settling with Walgreen’s, the last of the defendants in the state’s opioid litigation, AG Ford has brought in over $1.1 billion for the mitigation of the opioid crisis in Nevada.
“When I first took office as attorney general, I made it clear that seeking justice for those harmed by the opioid epidemic was one of my top priorities,” said AG Ford. “We have made it clear time and time again that those who harm Nevadans will be held accountable – today’s settlement is only the latest example. I want to thank my staff and the law firm of Eglet Adams for the work they have done to ensure these settlements were possible and this money comes to Nevada to help its residents.”
The $285 million settlement with Walgreens will be split between the state and the signatories of the One Nevada Agreement. After litigation costs and fees, the state will retain $98,125,784.95, which will be placed in the Fund for Resilient Nevada, and the signatories of the One Nevada Agreement will receive $116,172,431.49.
Previously, the state, along with all Nevada counties and cities that currently have active litigation against opioid companies, came to an agreement on the intrastate allocation of funds from opioid-related recoveries. This One Nevada Agreement on Allocation of Opioid Recoveries provides a framework for how funds from any Nevada opioid-related settlement will be fairly and equitably allocated among the state and various local governmental entities and used to remediate the harms, impact and risks caused by the opioid epidemic in the state.
In early 2021, the Legislature created the Fund for a Resilient Nevada, which directs state opioid recoveries to fund evidence-based programs through the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. The law required the state to develop a State Needs Assessment which identifies the critical needs for attacking the impacts and effects of opioids throughout the entire state, and a State Plan for prioritizing funding for the needs identified in said assessment. The law also creates a mechanism for the state, counties and cities to work together in developing county needs assessments and county plans that complement the State Needs Assessment and State Plan, therefore maximizing the use of the money from recoveries.
Source: NV AG’s Office